Male Fragility & The Sri Lankan Crisis: A Queer Feminist Reading – III
Dr. Chamindra Weerawardhana
As three weeks passed after the 2019 Easter Sunday massacre of innocent citizens and their children, the crisis took another turn, with violent mobs engaging in acts of arson and murder. To the tremendous fortune of the Sri Lankan people, the public outcry from all quarters against this kind of vandal violence was very high. The work of the armed forces in drawing the line on these riots must be commended. Certain reports have accused members of the armed forces of alleged collusion. An investigation is underway. However, this writer would categorically emphasise the fact that the armed forces have been exemplary in their efforts to contain the rising tensions. The courage, dedication, and devotion to public security of every single servicewoman and serviceman deserves unreserved and unconditional commendation.
It needs to be mentioned, for the record, that the arson attacks and mob violence were similar to acts of violence in the early 1980s, wanted, conceived, and coordinated by men at the highest levels of government. The Wickremesinghe government desperately needs mayhem of this nature at the moment, so that it can engage in its agendas of postponing forthcoming elections and implementing the promises it has made to its benefactors in Washington DC.
Strong calls for calm and nonviolence came from religious leaders. Ministers of religion from all the main faith traditions in the country came together in making this request. Their role has been highly influential in calming the situation. If one takes a look at these calls for calm, interfaith dialogues, conversations on inter-religious coexistence and understanding, and calls for nonviolence, one can notice a conspicuous absence – that of women.
In Sri Lankan public discourses on issues related to peace dividends, nonviolence and interfaith harmony, the role of female ministers of religion has been severely downgraded and subjected to erasure. The Catholic cardinal, a man known for his misogynist and homophobic views, emerged as the absolute hero in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks. This by no means is an effort to downgrade His Eminence’s very laudable appeal for communal harmony and nonviolence. His Eminence certainly deserves our respect and appreciation for the leadership he provided to the Catholic community in the face of such tragedy of unprecedented proportions. However, what we can also notice is that the tremendous work done by Catholic nuns, especially in working with the distressed families, orphaned children and inured people, has not received much deserved attention and appreciation.
This writer, a Sinhala Buddhist, will focus below on the erasure of female members of the Buddhist clergy in the face of the current crisis. Commenting on this problem in other faiths is best left to followers of those faith traditions.
A ‘second place’ for women?
In the practices and codes of the Sri Lankan brand of Theravada Buddhism, the position given to women in the clergy leaves much to be desired. There is a great deal of resistance from male monks to any discussion on full equality and rights to their female counterparts.
Buddhist clergywomen are categorically kept away from many sacred spaces. They are, for example, not allowed in the inner sanctum where the tooth relic is kept at the Temple of the Tooth Relic. The rituals of the inner sanctum are exclusively the domain of monks. This is all the more ludicrous given the fact that it was a woman, Princess Hemamala, who is said to have brought the Tooth Relic to Sri Lanka, hidden in her hair.
The same goes for the uda maluwa of the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi. Only monks and laymen are allowed up there. The rare exceptions would have perhaps been the Bandaranaike mother and daughter during their prime ministerial and presidential tenures, and….the Queen of England!. This is yet another stupid and shameless restriction, as it was a Bhikkuni, the Most Ven. Maha Sanghamitta, who is said to have brought the sapling of the Bodhi tree to Lanka.
A reality of restrictions and exclusions?
Highly patriarchal codes and practices continue to haunt and impede the progress of the Buddhist establishment in Sri Lanka. Despite the fact that Higher ordination has been restored in Sri Lanka, and although we do fare slightly better compared to other Theravada traditions such as the Thai Forest Tradition, Lankan Bhikkunis are subjected to categorical exclusion from the hierarchies in our Buddhist establishment. Bhikkunis do not occupy any decision-making positions or seats in the high-level committees of any of the major nikayas. The Mahabodhi Society has chief prelates in many countries around the world. All of them are men. All the Mahanayakes and Anunayakes are men. In terms of media exposure and political leverage, the only Buddhist ministers of religion who are given priority are men.
